Could biodiversity loss have increased Australia's bushfire threat?

Could Morality Have

Mitigation, adaptation, and the threat to biodiversity.

JAMES S. PATERSON,∗ MIGUEL B. ARAÚJO,† PAM M. BERRY,∗ JAKE M. PIPER,‡ AND MARK D. A. ROUNSEVELL§ ∗Environmental Change Institute, Oxford University Centre for the Environment, South Parks Road, Oxford, OX1 3QY, United Kingdom, email [email protected] †Department of Biodiversity and Evolutionary Biology, National Museum of Natural Sciences, CSIC, C/José Gutierrez Abascal 2, Madrid 280...

Could plants have cognitive abilities?

Vegetation is traditionally regarded as passive, doing nothing but what is essential to grow and survive. Evidence is accumulating, however, in support of formerly esoteric notions that plants can communicate, remember, even count--features that one would call cognitive if they were observed in animals. Michael Gross reports.

How Could Language Have Evolved?

The evolution of the faculty of language largely remains an enigma. In this essay, we ask why. Language's evolutionary analysis is complicated because it has no equivalent in any nonhuman species. There is also no consensus regarding the essential nature of the language "phenotype." According to the "Strong Minimalist Thesis," the key distinguishing feature of language (and what evolutionary th...

Urban expansion as a driver of biodiversity loss: Integrating biodiversity in urban planning in African context

Africa has high biodiversity and is rapidly urbanizing. However, there is limited understanding of how urban expansion in Africa is likely to affect its habitats and biodiversity. Little urban ecological research has been done in Africa. This study needs to think ahead as Africa move into the “urban age” it is critical to inform the public on the importance of urban environment...